


Connection

by IR0N_0XIDE



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Angst, Classic Universe, Knuckles is antisocial af, M/M, Metal is a literal child, Robotnik thinks hes smart but probably isnt, Rosy is a bitch but not that bad tbh, Sonic is so stressful, Tails is literally the only one whos nice to metal at first, he also bitches at his friends, his friends try but dont succeed, i swear he's too innocent for this planet, metonic, metonic smooches ensues sooner or later, weather is a big problem apparently
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-04-29 23:44:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14483832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IR0N_0XIDE/pseuds/IR0N_0XIDE
Summary: After Sonic and Metal Sonic's night of bonding, Sonic decides he wants to introduce this new, kind, and friendly sentient version of Metal to his friends. However, still shaken by the memories of the fights with Metal as a nemesis, his friends aren't the most friendly bunch.Of course, this leads to Sonic getting ticked off at them and Metal trying to calm his hedgehog friend down.They all didn't like each other, until they got stuck in their own shelter from the rain.Trapped with nowhere to run, Sonic, Metal, and Sonic's friends are forced to get along. Friendship building and romantic encounters ensue as Robotnik tries his hardest to fish his prized robot away from his arch nemesis.





	1. Trouble

               The children sat happily on their checkered blanket that Sunday afternoon. Their propped red umbrella sheltered them from the sunlight’s rays as they relaxed, eating to their heart’s content. Sonic sat with his legs crossed next to Tails, who resided next to a kneeling Knuckles, who reluctantly took his place next to the excitable Rosy Rascal. And, their special guest Metal Sonic set himself on the other side of Sonic, his arm wrapped around the small hedgehog’s shoulders.

               “So, tell me why we have one of Robotnik’s hunks of junk at the picnic with us again?” Knuckles hissed, eyeing the steel hedgehog with a hostile expression.

               “Geez, no need to be so rude, Knuckle-head,” Sonic responded, scooting a bit closer to Metal. The childish robot glanced away from the red echidna, not meeting his sharp gaze. Rosy let out a loud “harrumph” at the sight of seeing a being so close to Sonic.

               “We have Metal as a guest today because he deserves a second chance. He’s been very nice to me, and he needs recognition for his good deeds! He’ll be our new friend, whether you like it or not,” Sonic continued. Metal let out a small beep of appreciation.

               “C’mon, guys, I promise I’ll be good!” Metal chimed in his high-pitched robotic voice. Knuckles barely acknowledged Metal’s friendly demeanor, and Rosy still made her jealousy clear. Tails, however, decided to step up for Sonic and his robotic counterpart.

               “Show some respect, will you? Sonic was having a hard time those few nights ago, and Metal was the only one there for him. Where were you guys when Sonic had his emotional breakdown out in the forest?” Tails exclaimed in his squeaky voice. Rosy glanced over to Tails as she replied:

               “Where were we? Where were  _ you _ ? Aren’t you, like, Sonic’s best friend or something?”

               “Well, yes, but I thought you wanted to be his girlfriend! I was busy upgrading the Tornado, and, where were you? Prepping your face with pounds of makeup to show off to Sonic?”

               “Hey! As a girl, it is my job to look pretty for the man! I don’t see you trying to get in a relationship, you gross loner!”

               This time, Knuckles chimed in to the argument.

               “Look pretty for the ‘man’? Really, Rosy, Sonic is eight. And what are you, like, six? And Tails is five? Rosy, why do you wear all your girly stuff anyway, isn’t that for more mature and sophisticated women?”

               The bickering continued between the three as Sonic and Metal helplessly watched. They glanced at each other with faces of uncertainty.

               “Maybe introducing you as a friend rather than foe wasn’t the best idea at the moment. But hey, it was worth a shot!” Sonic murmured to his robot friend. Metal Sonic shook his head; clearly, he shouldn’t have agreed with Sonic to come to the picnic.

               “Oh, it’s alright. I’ll just leave, and hopefully your friend’s problems will sort themselves out,” Metal sighed, getting up. Sonic felt a pang of shock course through him as he realized Metal was already leaving. No, he couldn’t leave now! Sonic wanted to spend a little more time with him!

               “M-Metal, wai--” Sonic was about to shout. But his engine revved up at the speed of sound, and Metal took off into the daylight like a shooting star across a night sky. Sonic held his gloved hand out, hoping to be able to grab Metal and pull him back to Earth to be with him, but alas the robot was already out of sight. Sonic’s usual happy smirk melted into a remorseful open-mouth frown as his eyebrows knit together an expression of anguish.

               By now, the argument between his other friends had died down to a deadly silent festival of surprise; they had never seen Sonic with so much negativity in his eyes before that it was very strange to even witness it.

               “Sonic…?” Tails offered, putting his hand on the hedgehog’s shoulder. The touch snapped Sonic back to reality, and the young hog jerked himself away from the palm of his twin-tailed friend.

               “You’re all such jerks for scaring off Metal like that! I’m really disappointed in all of you,” Sonic seethed, his lips curled into an ugly snarl. This was Metal’s only day away from Dr. Robotnik for a very long time, and his friends just had to ruin it. Sure, Sonic acknowledged that he could be overreacting about this whole situation, but the heat of the moment just filled him with an absolutely devastating rage.

               Sonic got up to his feet and took off, leaving his young pals behind. The three remaining residents of the picnic blinked, trying to process the sudden mood swing of their heroic blue friend.

               “… It seems we upset Sonic,” Tails whimpered, his ears drooping and his tails curling between his legs.

               “Well, no duh! Oh Sonic, I’m so sorry!” Rosy snapped, then cried. She gushed with small whines and sighs at the thought of hurting her beloved.

               “I ain’t sorry, though,” Knuckles muttered. “Never will there be a day I’d put my trust in one of Robotnik’s robots. Too risky.”

               “Knuckles!” Rosy yelled punishingly. She whacked him on the snout in the form of a bitch-slap and did so with a loud aggressive growl. The echidna cried out as he rubbed his now hurting snoot as Tails let out a small chuckle at the sight.

               “We should set out and start looking for Sonic. With how fast he is, he could be anywhere by now!” the twin-tailed fox suggested, getting back onto the situation at hand. Rosy and Knuckles both nodded in unison.

               “Right. Let’s pack up and go,” Knuckles said, accompanying Tails’ statement.

\---

               Sonic had been running for quite some time now, looking everywhere for his robotic friend. The day couldn’t end like this! Even if Metal needed to leave for quite some time, Sonic deserved a better farewell than the one he received back at the hostile setting of a picnic.

               To his surprise and excitement, Sonic was able to find Metal. The blue robot hedgehog sat on a ledge that overlooked a vast array of trees down below and revealed rolling lush green hills even farther off. The cotton-like clouds dotted the skies in every-which-way, and the bright sun reflected off of Metal’s surface, producing bright sparkles and handsome highlights on his steel frame.

“Metal! There you are!” Sonic exclaimed, sitting himself down right next to his metallic companion. Although Sonic’s hopeful eyes searched all over Metal’s face for his usual vibrant and happy spark, the robot didn’t make eye contact; rather, his own casual loving emotion was drained from him, and he looked like the empty shell he was built to be.

“Oh, hello, Mr. Sonic. Don’t you have some upset friends to tend to?” Metal responded dully. His normal high-pitched childish voice was reduced to a low, dark drone. It was the sound of pure depressed sophistication.

“W-well… They always seem to fight amongst themselves anyway, the situation with you not being an exception. They’re just like that; they’ll warm up to you soon!” Sonic said, slightly caught off guard. He really didn’t expect Metal to be so affected by the prior situation; the robot was always so happy and joyful that his deep and sinister tone was genuinely hard to believe.

“Who’d want someone working with Mr. Robotnik to be your friend? It makes sense that I’d be the reject, and hey, that’s perfectly fine,” Metal went on, barely acknowledging how hard Sonic tried to cheer him up. Sonic inhaled sharply, glanced away, and looked back at Metal.

“Hey,” Sonic murmured. He put a hand on Metal’s steel muzzle and turned his head so they looked eye-to-eye. But, ah yes! Those bright red projected eyes that Sonic always longed to look in to; how brilliant they shone, and how full of work and adore they were. Sonic’s face softened at the sight, and he tried not to get distracted by the flickering artwork on the screen before him.

“I know you’re different from Robuttnik’s other bots, Metal. You’ll never be a reject to me, and if my friends won’t accept you, then I guess I’ll have you all to myself then,” Sonic continued.

Now, if Sonic enjoyed looking into the bright red artificial eyes of Metal Sonic, then Metal adored looking into Sonic’s. This was organic life before him, and his scanners focused so close on those black-brown- no, greenish black-brown (maybe they would grow greener as the hedgehog grew older?)- optics every time he looked directly at Sonic. Life fascinated Metal for sure, but the emotions of this blue pin cushion before him were insane. This was a life-form who rarely felt pain, or fear, or sadness or anger; and when he did, they were on such a high scale that it was both saddening and fascinating. Metal admired how real Sonic’s feelings were, and how they were natural and created by nature herself. He, though? He was fully artificial, crafted to feel fake things, crafted to be unnatural. Although he envied Sonic’s realness, he also adored the hedgehog on both friendly and romantic levels. Although Dr. Robotnik specifically built Metal to be just like Sonic if not better, the one thing Metal wasn’t sure that Sonic shared was the romantic interest.

“You mean that, Mr. Sonic?” Metal acquired, his voice returning to its usual high happy tone.

“Of course I-“ Sonic was cut off by the loud screech of thunder and a flash of lightning. Both organic and artificial hedgehog lifted their heads to the skies as they realized dark gray thunderheads began racing across the sky, dropping harsh and cold pellets of rain as they went. Metal’s eyes widened.

“W-water!? Mr. Sonic, we need to find shelter!” Metal cried, getting on his feet in a start. Dr. Robotnik, of all things, chose to wait on making Metal Sonic waterproof. That’s an example of a man who needs to get his priorities straight.

“Right! I know about a cave me and my friends like to hang out in sometimes. Come with me!” Sonic said quickly, getting on his feet rapidly as well. Metal booted up his engine and took off, with Sonic running in the lead.

But the rain was coming down hard and fast, and it certainly hit Metal in all the wrong places. Sonic, after some amount of time, began hearing the awkward puffs and chokes Metal’s engine would make as it slowly became more waterlogged, and the alarming beeps that Metal gave off every time he felt it.

Eventually, it became a problem, and Metal just fell straight down without a word of warning. Sonic, with quick wit and instinct, caught the robot in his arms like a hero his damsel in distress.

“I’ll carry you the rest of the way, since you’re so full of water right now,” Sonic said, and began his run again. Metal didn’t say anything: he just rested his head on Sonic’s shoulder as they sped through the rainstorm.

\---

When Tails, Knuckles, and Rosy heard the first crack of thunder and saw the bright spark of lightning, they knew that there was trouble brewing here in nature.

Tails screeched, leaping in the arms of Knuckles in fear, and Rosy gasped in shock.

“Hey, get off of me!” Knuckles snapped, trying to shake Tails off. The fox quivered, his phobia getting the best of him.

“Sh-shelter! Get to shelter!” Tails wailed, his eyes watering as he gripped harder onto the annoyed echidna. Rosy thought for a moment as Knuckles kept trying to rid himself of Tails, and came up with an idea.

“The cave! Remember the place we hang out with Sonic? We should sit tight there until we find him!” Rosy suggested. Knuckles agreed with the idea while Tails screamed again at the second boom of thunder.

When Knuckles was able to get Tails off, the three began running for the cave. The rain grew harder, and the thunder became louder, and each flash of lightning sent shivers down the children’s’ spines.

And, soon enough, not only did the kids find the cave they were looking for, but they also found Sonic and his waterlogged robot friend. Metal lay on the cave floor, letting out small jolts of electricity and glitchy beeps. The trio of newcomers all stood in shock just before the cave entrance, watching how Sonic cradled the sickly Metal gently in his arms. When Sonic noticed their presence, he looked up at them with sinister eyes.

“Well? Don’t just stand there gawking at me in the rain like that, you bozos. Get in here under the shelter and help me fix this damn robot you all hate so much!”


	2. Trapped

It had been an hour. No one had said a single word since the harsh demand Sonic gave earlier. The rain pelted down, and the lightning brightened the sky with every strike. Sonic sat with his arms crossed in a corner, while his three friends all watched him in shame. Knuckles was keeping guard on the cave entrance, Tails was figuring out a way to fix Metal, and Rosy would simply just stare at the spiny back of Sonic.

She let out a sigh, her face hot with regret and the desire to fix everything wrong weighing on her shoulders.

To break the long record silence, Knuckles decided to spark conversation.

“Looks like we’ve done goofed, eh team? Sonic seems pretty ticked at all y’all,” he commented, glancing from Sonic and back to the rain outside.

“You’re the one who talked smack about Metal, not me,” Rosy snapped, flashing a glance at the rude echidna. 

Tails glanced up from his work to look at Sonic, who’s expression had taken an entirely new level of disgust and sadness upon it. The fox then looked at his two other friends.

“Guys, shut up! You’re making it worse,” Tails ordered. He wasn’t normally a bossy guy, but he really didn’t want Sonic to yell again; every time that blue hedgehog had some negative emotion, it was so extreme that it scared him. He hated each time Sonic became unnaturally sinister, it was just so unlike him.

Both Rosy and Knuckles glanced over at Sonic, and immediately looked away, as this time Sonic had met their gaze with cold and unwelcoming eyes. 

Tails put his focus back on his work. He must have studied this robot countless times now, and yet he still couldn’t make sense of one thing; how he came up with his own decisions. Of course this bot had sentience, but the difference was how easily and ready Metal was to disobey his programmed task. When a computer is given a specific function, it is expected to perform the assigned task at all costs. Metal Sonic’s one duty was to eliminate the very being of Sonic, and yet Metal did the exact opposite; he encourages Sonic, he cares about Sonic- he protects Sonic. Tails, being the mechanical genius, would be expected to find an answer to all these anomalies. But some things in life just simply can’t be answered, whether it be things like solving how different dimensions work to solving the mystery of… love?

Rosy, meanwhile, took her time studying Sonic’s frame. He had a short stature but a bold attitude that made him seem taller than the rest. He had a heart of gold and cared for every individual, whether they were good, neutral, or evil. He was such a brave hero, an admirable lick of work, a person who rarely felt negativity. But, was that entirely true? That was what the rumors of Sonic echoed, but clearly that wasn’t completely honest. Did Sonic really feel down that night out in the forest? Was his sole enemy the only one there for him? The thought of Sonic and Metal Sonic being close to each other in a friendly manner was mind boggling, as there have been countless times where Sonic and Metal have gone neck-and-neck as sworn enemies. They’ve raced for the safety of Mobias, they’ve raced for Little Planet, and they’ve even raced to see who could either save or destroy Rosy herself. And now, Metal Sonic and Sonic were best friends? It was so unexpected and improbable! Their connection practically made Rosy jealous.

She looked over at Knuckles, who seemed to be itching to get up. He was forced to sit there and watch the rain as it splattered down, keeping guard for intruders on their party. She could tell he was getting nervous about leaving the Master Emerald alone for so long, and she almost felt bad for him. Almost. Of course it was his duty to watch over it, as this job has been passed down for generations by his ancestors, but Knuckles always seemed so distant and antisocial because of it. His quick-to-temper demeanor and snappy personality must be from his lack of contact with others for sure.

Rosy then glanced over at Tails, who seemed to be coming on with a breakthrough on fixing Sonic’s metallic friend. She rose from her spot to shuffle towards Tails, looking down at Metal’s limp build as her friend cleared Metal’s insides of water and damage.

“How’s it going?” she said quietly. Tails closed a panel in Metal’s side, and looked up at Rosy with a small smile.

“I think he’s done. He should be up and raring to go as soon as I turn him on,” Tails responded cheerfully. At the word “done”, Sonic’s ears shot straight up in interest. However, he didn’t bother to humor his friends by turning his head to look at them.

With the flick of a small switch, Metal’s glowing red eyes appeared on his screen. His digits twitched and his feet flicked a little bit, regaining control of his body. Soon he was able to sit up, and looked up at Rosy and Tails. Both of them smiled back at him, trying to be as friendly as they could. It felt weird being so close to Metal Sonic without feeling threatened.

“O-oh, hello there Ms. Rosy, Mr. Tails,” Metal stammered, almost shocked as to how friendly they were all of a sudden.

“Good day, Mets,” Tails responded, while Rosy replied with a simply warm-hearted wave. Metal nodded at them and looked at Sonic, who was still in the corner defiantly.

“...If you don’t mind, I’ll go talk to him for a bit,” Metal offered. With that, he got to his feet and moved himself to his hedgehog friend. He slumped beside him, so close that his metal quills grazed Sonic’s real ones.

“I see you’re awake,” Sonic murmured. Metal, without warning, pulled Sonic into a tight hug. Sonic responded with a shocked squeak.

“Of course I’m awake, Mr. Sonic! I’m safe thanks to you and your friends!” the robot hedgehog giggled as he snuggled his friend mercilessly. Sonic gratefully accepted the affection, but slightly flinched at the word “friend”. He still wasn’t sure why he was so angry at them- it was expected that they’d react the way they did- but he just seemed… afraid. He was already oh-so-close to his metal friend, and he didn’t want to lose him. There was just something so… amazing about that robot. He was so sweet, so kind, so loving… Sonic very well loved him back. It would be a disaster if Sonic had lost that bot; he had no idea where he’d be without him. Would if Metal wasn’t there for him on that quiet and fateful night? Would if Sonic had let his sadness get the best of him?

He leaned closer in to Metal, appreciating his presence. Being in the arms of his robotic friend felt so nice, so comforting. It filled Sonic’s heart with such a warm feeling that it was almost overpowering: he was light-headed, he was dizzy. And his mind continued to spin as he counted the several small white specks that swam across his vision on his closed eyelids. This was a bond so strong, so tight, so unbreakable. It was a pure and sturdy connection.

So little time, and yet so close, and how? Every day seemed to move so quickly and yet so slow simultaneously, a confusing feat that Sonic could not comprehend. Every day was fast-paced with fun-filled adventures and mysteries to solve, while at the same time they went by at a steady pace: enough time for an hour with Metal to seem like a day. He didn’t have to have been friends with Metal for a long time in order to grow so close to him; all Sonic really needed was touch, talk, and those brilliant emotion-filled eyes. 

He felt his admirable comrade back away, taking Sonic by surprise. He didn’t expect Metal to end the hug anytime soon, no- he felt a little cold in his heart from the sudden lack of touch.

Metal looked at Sonic directly in the eyes, forcing Sonic to do the same. And there they were again, the bright glowing red and artificial eyes, filled with hundreds upon hundreds of small flickering pixels hard at work. The feeling, the emotion, everything that Sonic simply adored, just flashing before his very eyes. Such a sight made Sonic catch his breath as usual.

“Listen, Mr. Sonic, I want you to forgive your friends,” Metal ordered, his high voice once again becoming low and serious. Sonic widened his eyes a little, glanced at his friends, and glanced back. His friends stood there watching: excited, hopeful, waiting.

Sonic tried to say something to his sophisticated robot friend, but no words could form on his tongue. It was like as if the tense moment had choked his vocal cords to a point of uselessness.

“I understand you’re very upset at them, but please: give them a chance. They’re doing their best, Mr. Sonic, and I want to see you happy with them,” Metal went on. Sonic managed to close his slightly open mouth and finally take a long look at his friends. Tails reacted with a smile, Rosy responded with a girly bat of the eyes, and Knuckles gave a curt and simple nod.

“Metal…” Sonic paused. He looked down, all around, and back down once more with closed eyes. He sighed.

“Alright, Metal. I’ll give them a cha-,” Sonic was going to finish, but a sudden violent shake of the ground cut him off. The children tried to balance themselves, bewildered and not sure of what to do.

And yet it seemed to finish as quick as it started. Pitch black was all they could see, except for Metal’s bright eyes. He activated some sort of flashlight from his body to light the cave, and they all realized the entrance was sealed shut with boulders.

Tails sat shocked, while Rosy cried and squealed. Knuckles was already trying his hardest to break the rocks down with his fists.

“Are y’all alright?” Sonic called out, a worried expression knit on his face. No one responded before they heard a signature laughter just outside their shelter; none other than Dr. Robotnik had conducted this act.

Knuckles had given up, his hands throbbing and aching. Everyone huddled together, fearing their current situation. No way in, no way out.

“W-we’re trapped!” Tails cried.


	3. To Impress Him

The humidity, the warmth, the suffocating lack of oxygen: Sonic grasped his chest desperately, beads of sweat traveling down his cranium and dripping off his glossy ebony nose. His tongue lolled out of his mouth, rapidly taking gulps of air to attempt to satisfy his needy lungs. His team weren’t doing any better, either; Tails could barely stand, Rosy leaned against the wall, and Knuckles tried his hardest to bear through it. Metal was standing near the back of the cave, trying to figure out a way to break them out. He felt jolts of stress and sadness course through his system, anxiety tearing at his artificial mind. He had a group of kids who were near suffocation, and he needed a plan, fast. It had only been thirty whole minutes and they had used up most of their precious air.

He rubbed his metallic palm on the back wall of the cave, and used his sensors to scan it.

__ _ Form: Solid. Positive. _

__ _ Hollow? Negative. _

__ _ Type: Dirt. Positive. _

__ _ Breakable? Affirmative. _

__ _ Not very compact. _

__ _ Define compact; adjective; closely and neatly packed together, dense. Could it possibly be dug through? _

Metal knew what to do.

He turned to Knuckles, who seemed to be the one handling himself better than the rest. Those large, spiked fists would be perfect for breaking down that wall.

“Excuse me, Mr. Knuckles? I believe that if you continue to dig into this wall, you’ll eventually reach the other side, and provide us all with oxygen,” Metal stated. Knuckles looked up, nodded, and sprinted for said wall without a hint of hesitation. With a loud triumphant cry, he slammed his balled fists against its surface to break it down and dig through it. Metal backed away, standing next to his struggling friends. Sonic, Rosy, and Tails all silently watched as Knuckles was able to pave a way through the wall.

Metal held out his hands to Rosy and Sonic, who took them gratefully. They reached their feet, giving a thankful nod to the robot. Tails remained panting on the ground, and Metal picked him up. His small frame wasn’t very heavy, so Metal was simply able to sling the small fox over his shoulder. Tails hung like dead weight, his breaths small and his fur soaked with sweat. His young body wasn’t taking the sudden environmental conditions very well, and it was a sad sight to see. 

Metal, Sonic, and Rosy came up behind Knuckles, following him through the tunnel he made in the wall.

Knuckles tore through with swift punches and quick scoops, the spikes on his gloves helping to puncture and break down the dirt. He sputtered and coughed, not just from the lack of oxygen, but from the dust that clouded around his face. Nonetheless, he continued to break through, pushing on in hopes of finding salvation for his physical ailments. 

Metal let out a loud beep as his screen flashed red, his systems scanning the path they were paving. His vision surpassed the solid surface of the dirt as they went on, looking for the breaking point. Not too far away, now; a much larger and endless stone cavern awaited them on the other side, and it provided plenty of air, small crystal shards that provided them with light, and a small watering hole where the children could cease their thirst.

“Not much longer, now. We’ll be there in approximately thirty more seconds,” Metal estimated, urging Knuckles on. The echidna nodded and pushed harder, his hands working at a furious rate.

Sonic, meanwhile, was holding Rosy’s hand as they went. She was afraid and weak, and needed comfort. Her blue hedgehog comrad did just that; he intertwined his fingers with hers, holding her tight to quench her fear and support her.. This action used to feel natural and welcoming, but now it made him slightly uncomfortable; he knew Rosy really wanted him, but now he felt something else tugging at his heart strings. Ever since he saw who Metal truly was deep inside, he’s changed so much- one of these changes had to be his feelings for Rosy. He wasn’t sure whether the notion of having a new friend was changing his perspective temporarily or if the sensation of developing a crush was twisting his thoughts.

...Wait, developing a crush? This was nonsense! He couldn't fall in love with this robotic counterpart of his. That was like loving himself; Metal Sonic was built to mimic Sonic in every way, so how is it that he can love something so… like himself? But, looks and appearance were not everything. In fact, Metal had such a different personality, he had such different motives. All of this happened since Metal’s reach to individualism, something Robotnik thought would benefit his beloved badnik. Well, if it didn’t benefit Robotnik’s evil schemes, it certainly benefited Sonic’s life as a whole.

All this reasoning had distracted him from the task at hand. Knuckles had stopped at a stone wall. He breathed heavily as he leaned against it, most likely unable to break it.

“Well, snap. Looks like we need something stronger,” Metal cursed under his breath. Sonic stifled a giggle at the robot’s use of language.

“Sonic can spindash, if that helps anything,” Rosy commented, her voice a bit low from her exhaustion. Metal turned his head to look at Sonic, who released Rosy’s hand to curl into a ball. Yeah, he’d show Metal. He’d show him just how brilliant his spindash was. That would certainly impress him!

But, what’s this talk about impressing him? It was clear he liked Metal a bit more than he should.

With a kick-start, Sonic began spinning. After gaining up enough potential energy, he released his set position to go flying into the stone wall. Its blueish-grayish surface crumbled at the impact, and Sonic rolled to the other side. The sudden rush of cold, sweet air threw him off, and the hedgehog swiveled awkwardly into a small pool of freezing clean water off to the side. He yelped and straightened his posture, shivering from the temperature. It matted his fur and spikes into strange angles that made the other children laugh. Well, so much for that “impressing Metal” thing.

“Hey, it’s not funny!” Sonic pouted, crossing his arms as he sat. He watched as Knuckles collapsed in exhaustion, with Rosy hovering over him in concern, and Metal placing Tails on the ground. The twin-tailed fox boy took in a large gulp of air, satisfying his small aching lungs, and looked up at Metal with a grateful smile. Metal walked to the edge of the pool and offered to help Sonic up, who gladly accepted it.

“How did you know that there was another cave here?” Sonic asked, shaking his body to rid it of water. Metal shielded himself as the droplets flew across the room like embers from a fire.

“I scanned the area for a way out. That wall was the softest surface to dig through, and there happened to be this cavern on the other side, I suppose,” Metal answered, studying his surroundings as he did so. 

Sonic looked behind him, and noticed how the cavern extended to very far reaches; he couldn’t see an end, as darkness enveloped anything further than about fifty feet. Just because they made it to a different enclosure didn’t mean that they were free; they still needed a way out of Robotnik’s trap.

He turned back to his friends, who were all busy helping each other. These were the people he’d be stuck with for a  _ long  _ time, he better get used to them, no matter how hard it was dealing with their issues with Metal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter seems short or rushed in any way, state testing at my school is hanging over my head and limiting my ability to focus on this story, aha-


	4. A/N

I've recently come upon a slump for this story and thus, I will be discontinuing it. I will leave it on AO3 so that people can go back and re-read it if they wish.

However, due to some disconnection (pun unintended) with this story, I will cut it off from the "Heart of Metal" series. Rather, I'll replace it with a new story that I'll actually enjoy writing.

 

I am sorry for the inconvenience.

**Author's Note:**

> And suddenly, I decided that one one-shot was not enough--  
> Yes hello this is technically a part two to "His Eyes" because several people asked me to continue even though it was a one-shot...  
> Hope y'all enjoy! I don't quite know how long this series is going to go on to be honest, but I can assume there will be one more work after this one to top it off !!


End file.
